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Startups are passionate about excelling and proving that their idea has the potential to conquer their target niche. However, limited resources often haunt the novice yet dedicated entrepreneurs. Thus, they need to acquire leads and close sales as quickly as possible for sustainable growth and business viability.

Lead generation can be challenging, but if you persevere and employ a range of smart tactics, you will notice a steady stream of quality leads entering your sales pipeline.

Here are six ideas that can help you get and close more leads:

1. Content marketing

Invest your time and efforts in content marketing, since it has the potential to promote your business and get sales leads. It serves as an outlet to share your insightful thoughts and valuable advice with the audience, without being too promotional.

However, according to research, 71% of the readers said that they lost interest in the content that came across as a sales pitch. Therefore, keep your content educational, influencing, and entertaining. When people establish trust in your content, they are more willing to connect with you and convert into customers.

Moreover, when you create a blog and regularly update it with well-crafted content, infused with SEO keywords, it can improve the rankings of your page on the search engines. Higher visibility entails greater chances of inbound user traffic and better conversion rate.

Another form of compelling content marketing is engaging videos. This form of media also often enjoys better user engagements, since the brain perceives visuals faster than words. Therefore, you have to create an entertaining video that promotes your business subtly and engages customers. Also, add a link directly to the video that can take the viewers to a specific landing page. If the video goes viral, it can become a continuous lead generation source.

2. Brand awareness

Customers are attracted towards companies that have a clear message across all marketing platforms and have an origin story that piques their interest. Thus, it’s a good idea to convey your ideologies behind starting a business and what purpose do you intend to serve with it.

Employ the power of social media to promote your story, as it is one of the best and affordable ways to increase your brand awareness. In fact, 83% of marketers use social media to bolster sales and brand identity. However, do not create an account on all available social channels. Choose the ones that have the highest percentage of your target audience and come across as the experts of your niche.

Furthermore, create a prominent brand logo and use it across all your physical and digital presences. The best email signatures and brand images are those that strike an immediate chord with the viewers and compel them to read your message.

As you increase your brand awareness, people will begin to recognize your startup as a promising organization, which subsequently will translate into to a higher conversion rate and more leads.

3. Influencer marketing

Every sector has its set of influencers who have a sizeable following of avid fans. Establish cordial relationships with the influencers in your niche to dabble in their followers.

You can feature the market influencers on your blog, website, or social media. You can ask them for a quote for your video or interview them for a blog post. This will attract their followers, who are your target customers, to your digital channels.

In addition, you can initiate an intelligent conversation with the influencers on their social media pages or take part in a trending subject pertinent to your business and use hashtags to gain prominence.

4. Networking

The conventional networking events are invaluable to the startup owners. You can earn valuable contacts and leads from such events, as well as expand your network and gain referrals. However, prior to attending these gathering, make sure that you are equipped with an interesting yet concise story about your startup and business cards to distribute. Once you notice your audience is developing an interest in your idea, go ahead and ask for patronage.

5. Offer incentives

Lead generation involves the prospects to show an organic interest in your business so that you can convert them into customers eventually. However, if you want someone to share their contact information, you need to offer an incentive that they cannot decline.

For example, you can offer them a free trial of your service for a limited period, a free giveaway, or a discount on the first purchase of your products. Make sure that you provide them with an exemplary service or a high-quality product even if it is free. This can earn you many leads as well as loyal customers.

6. Promote customer reviews

Customer reviews are a powerful tool since they have a defining presence in organic searches. In addition, reviews and testimonials serve as a beacon for startups that help them generate and convert leads.

Therefore, prompt your customers to leave a review on your websites, social media platform, and other third-party sites. This increases the probability of qualified prospects discovering your business and interacting with it.

In case of negative reviews, you can display your impeccable customer service skills by responding immediately and employing smart reputation management tactics. This will further boost your image and attract more leads,

Conclusion

Lead generation is critical to a business’s viability. However, if you are unable to manage and convert your potential customers, all your efforts become futile. Therefore, implement intuitive CRM sales software that will help you track the position of each lead in the sales funnel.

The tool also prompts you about your next course of action so that every prospect is engaged appropriately according to their position in the sales pipeline. Consequently, you can optimize your conversion rate and grow your startup into a withstanding company.

Author: Michelle Joe

Michelle Joe is a blogger by choice. She loves to discover the world around her. She likes to share her discoveries, experiences, and express herself through her blogs. Currently, She is working on Airg reviews with Airg team.